Pearman House at the National Society for Epilepsy

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CHALFONT ST PETER CHESHAM LANE Pearman House at the National Society for Epilepsy

(Formerly listed as: CHESHAM LANE, PEARMAN HOUSE CHALFONT CENTRE (FOR EPILEPTICS))

30-JUL-84

GV II

Villa accommodation for epileptics, originally for children. 1896-1898 to the designs of either Maurice B. Adams or E.C. Shearman.

Brick on ashlar plinth, with rendered first floor and tile-hung gables. Big tiled roof sweeping low over central two-storey range to meet those over single-storey wings to either side. It is a good example of the distinctive planning found at the Chalfont Centre, with a central two storey range containing communal living areas on the ground floor and staff accommodation above, with single storey wings to either side that formerly housed dormitories and a service range to the rear, since extended. Ground floor sash windows set in arched surrounds, with central stone oriel. First floor windows part renewed in uPVC. Small doors to sides, one long converted to a window, the other with timber door under simple hood.

The former Chalfont colony was founded in 1894 to give a normal, healthy village life to people with epilepsy. It pioneered the concept of a village community for patients with mental conditions, which was widely adopted, firstly for other epilepsy hospitals and in the inter-war period for institutions serving other mental conditions. Milton House and Pearman House stand on slightly higher ground within the village, and form a strong group with Greene House. These buildings at the Chalfont Centre form an important group, for their historic interest in the treatment of epilepsy and as examples, if altered, of Arts and Crafts architecture designed to give a domestic feel to a hospital institution.

Source Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, unpublished report NBR no.100291.